The Bender and the Goddess
by HaeleaH
Summary: This story is basically what I imagined would happen after Azula attacked Aang in the Avatar state. Aang loses most of his bending abilities but will eventually be able to regain them. For now, though, Aang is forced into hiding with Sokka and Katara.


Okay, so this is my first Fanfiction on Avatar: The Last Airbender. I loved the show and now love Legend of Korra also. So anyways, everything goes to their respective owners. Lyly (who will be introduced next chapter) is mine.

The story is basically about what I imagined would happen after Azula attacked Aang in the Avatar state. Aang loses most of his bending abilities but will eventually be able to regain them. For now, however, Aang is forced into hiding with Sokka and Katara. They return to the Southern Water Tribe only to find someone who has been waiting for them for a very, very long time...

Enjoy!

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Katara's POV:

Aang and I were sitting across from each other on top of Appa, while Sokka steered us home. The Southern Arctic air blowing fiercely against my face, I realized I'd been away from home for much longer than I thought. The idea of not knowing anything about my tribe during the past year sickened me, and I wanted to forget the feeling quickly.

Aang's head was in his hands, as it had been for the entire ride. He hadn't looked up or spoken to Sokka or me, and I was beginning to get anxious. After deciding to finally quit the battle against the Fire Nation, I at least expected him to talk to us. It was our time and our families that were left unprotected after all – he'd left his defenseless one hundred years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I understand why he left the airbenders, and I know he never expected to leave them to die. But it did work out that way. And since he left the battle, all I could say is that I had higher expectations for him. I believed he could save the world! I believed he could save us. He left us all to die. And this time, he knew it. Of course, I would never say any of this to him.

"Katara," Sokka called out. "I can see the shoreline!"

I practically pounced onto Appa's head to my little, iced village in the distance. I couldn't help but cry out in happiness, which stirred Aang from his isolation. He slowly joined us on top of Appa's head. I watched him sit down. There were tear stains on his shirt.

"It looks the same." Sokka pointed out. "That's a good sign."

"For now," I said spitefully without realizing it. Sokka shot me a look. I glanced to Aang, who held his knees to his chest. He hid his head in his knees. I heard wisps of sobbing.

"I mean…" I tried to think of how to recover. "We're going to change things when we get there. We'll make it better!" But I couldn't recover properly. Aang knew what I so clearly meant. I looked away to the icebergs below us. Sokka shot me a glaring look before pulling at Appa's reigns to tell him to land. Aang only cried into his knees.

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Sokka's POV:

My sister is a pain in the butt. For all the credit she gets for being a great waterbending healer, she really knows how to kick a guy when he's down.

I watched Aang as we landed, his sobs breaking through the cracks in his curled up body. I felt for the guy; the only reason he quit was because he knew he couldn't protect us anymore. He got really injured when Azula attacked him in his Avatar state. So injured that it messed his bending, and since then the kid could barely bend at all. As the Avatar he's supposed to be able to use his bending to bring peace to us all. But without much bending abilities, he was as good as useless. When Katara was asleep Aang confessed to me that he'd felt he was better off just continuing the Avatar line by killing himself. Of course I advised him not to, told him he'd get better with time. But it really hit me that such a fun-loving kid would think he needed to kill himself.

We created a crowd in the center of our village. It's not every day that a flying bison arrives bringing a powerless Avatar and two of your own villagers back home. I could see the boys I used to train for war come running up. Each of them looked slightly taller and stronger, but they were still only six or seven. I realized our fathers still hadn't returned and we were still left defenseless.

"Sokka! Katara!" I heard my Gran call. This got Aang up from his pity parade.

"Gran Gran!" Katara shouted, jumping off Appa and darting toward our ancient grandmother. I wanted to follow badly, but knew Aang shouldn't be left alone.

"You can go," I heard him say. This startled me as he barely looked up at me watching him.

"No, man." I said. "I'm just gonna stay here for a while. All those heartbroken girls I left behind will be dying to see me, and I'm not in the mood to break some more hearts."

"Like you were ever a heartbreaker!" Aang laughed, nudging me in the ribs. I laughed, too, making sure I was good clear that this was a happy moment.

Aanga and I climbed off of Appa, which made Aang sad. All his life the kid had leaped ten feet in the air to descend the great furry flying bison, now being forced to merely climb off like a normal person made Aang feel like…well…a normal person. Useless.

We were caught by a hoard of kids who wanted to see the avatar fly again. If Katara and Appa made Aang feel miserable, this must've been complete torture for the kid. I'm sure he wanted to put on a brave smile and tell them not now or, worse, the truth.

But he never got the chance.

Out of nowhere a burst of wind spiralled around Aang and lifted him up in the air. For a moment, I wasn't sure what to make of it. Aang didn't seem to either. His eyes were widened to the size of Momo's and he screamed like a little girl. As soon as the gust of air came, it went, dropping Aang in the snow and leaving everyone in the completely awestruck.


End file.
